Cane-harvesting apparatus



' c. c. HOBSON CANE HARVESTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- H, I92!- I 1,425,479 V Patenzecz Aug. 8, 1922.

C. C. HOBSONL CANE HARVESTING APPARATUS. APPLICATIION FILED FE8.1I, I921.

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

(made I Wzz zesa C(HOBSON.

CANE HARVESTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11, 1921.

1 .%25, F?9n PatentedA11g.8,1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

C. 0.. HOBSON.

CANE HARVESTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11, 1921.

1,425,479, A Patented Aug. 8, 1922 4 SHEETS-SHE'ET 4.

mm STAT FFMIE.

CLAUDE C. HOBSON, OE KENWOOI) PARK, IOWA, SSIGNOR OF ONE HALF TO GT0 0.

HOBSON, VINTON, IOWA.

CANE-HARVESTING APPARATUS.

T 0 all whom, it may concern:

Be'it known that I, CnAUpn C. HOBSON, a citizen of the United States, residing 'at Kenwood Park, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cane-Harvesting Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has for its primary object to provide a unitary mechanism for performing in the field at one operation the complete harvesting and extraction of the juices from sugar cane in order to eliminate the laborious and unnecessary work of duplication'of operations which is usual incident to the steps customarily followed at this time. a

In the agricultural pursuit to which this invention is adapted, it is conventionally the practice, when the cane crop is'ripe or in proper condition, to first cutdown the stalks,.either by hand labor or by means of harvesting machinery suited for this work, after which the stalks are loaded upon vehides and removed from the field to a place from which. they may later be taken to the crushing mill or they may on the other hand be hauled directly to such mill. another handling they are passed through said mill, the juice extracted, and finally the bagasse is subsequently disposed of, or,

as not unusuahhauled out-upbn the field again where it is allowed to rot and improve the land inthe usual manner.

lVith the scarcity of labor, so many han-' dlings of the cane cause heavy expense and therefore my aim has been to provide an apparatus wherein the extraction of the juices may be effected as a part of the harvestingoperation and at the same time the bagasse is discharged and evenly spread upon the field whereit may most advantageously benefit theland.

To this end I have devised a harvesting machine of this class in which is combined means for cutting the stalks, for gathering and conveying the same to suitable means for expressing the juices as the apparatus is advanced over the field. My invention is characterized by the provision of novel means for this purpose including gathering mechanism arranged to carry the stalks in upright position and to move the same lat- ;erally after cutting to deposit them in prone E'os'ition upon a laterally moving elevating Specification of Letters Patent.

'ratus constructed Then by 1 Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

Application filed February 11, 1921. Serial No. 444,140.

to pressing rolls from which the bagasse is discharged upon the ground, while the juices are delivered into a suitable reservoir forming a part of the apparatus These and such other objects as may heremafter appear are attained by the novel con struction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and claimed. Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part, of this specification, wherein: F igure 1 is a top plan view of the appain accordance with my invent on.

Flgure 2 is a sectional view taken about on the plane indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the apparatus. j

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view showmg moreclearly the driving connections for the pressing rolls and the feeding apron.

Figure is a sectional view on the line of Figure 1 and showing more clearly the brake construction for steering purposes.

Flgure 6 is an enlarged detail View of certam of the parts employed for clutching and de-cl utching the tractor tread elements.

Figure 7' is a sectional view of the clutch operating rod for the engine clutch and the connections leading to the clutch devices for the harvesting mechanisms.

Figure 8 is a detail fragmentary View eratingmeans employed.

Figure 9-is a diagrammatic View of astalk passing through the pressing rolls.

Throughout the following detailed description of the several figures of the drawings, similar parts'are referred to by like reference characters.

In the drawings I have illustrated an embodiment of the mechanism which is devised for carrying out the various steps hereinbefore referred to but I desire it to be particularly understood that the details of the mechanisms may readily be modified to suit the purposes without in any wise departing from the spirit of my invention. I preferably mount the mechanism upon a motor driven vehicle which will operate under its 'own power over the field of the cane crop,

treads 1 suitably mounted upon a frame support which carries the prime mover 2 of any desired construction. The motor is operatively connected to the various mechanisms of this apparatus as well as to the tractor treads so that the same motive power is employed'to actuate the series of necha nisms according to the desires of the operator. The engineshaft carries the usual fly wheel 3 which by means of the clutch 4; is operatively connectedto'shait. 5 carrying drive gear 6 which meshes with the pinion 7 mounted upon a transverse counter-shaft 8. The shaft 8 in turn through the pinions 9 at each ,end actuates the loose gears 10 mounted upon the shafts 11 through which the drive may be-impartedto the tractor treads. Adjacent each gear 10 is a clutch element 1'2Jsplined upon the shaft 11 and normally [held in clutched relation to the gear 10 by means of a spring 13. The clutch element may be disengaged from the gear 10 to interrupt transmission of power to the tread member bymeans of the arm 14 which is operatively connected to the link 15, the

latter in turn being connected to a shifting arm 16 carriedat, the end of the steering wheel shaft 17. The parts referred to are obviously duplicated at the opposite side so that corresponding actuation of the tractor treads will be effected. It'should'be understood that this connection to the opposite side is through the relatively long link 15' and this duplication of mechanism is employed in'order that" an independent drive of vthe tractor treads may be had for the purposes of steering the apparatus as it advances to its work. Hence, shifting of the arm 16 in one direction by means of the.

steering wheel 18, will de-clutch the tractor tread at one side and through the instru mentality of the bell cranlo lfi the brake 20' i will be applied to its brake drum 21 mounti w ed upon the inner end of the shaft 11. This disconnects and brakes the motion of the tractor tread as stated-at one side while the power applied at the other side causes the vehicle to turn.- Shifting of the arm 16 in the other direction will accomplish just the reverse of the foregoing, that isto say, al-.-

lowing the power to be transmitted to the previously inactive tractor tread while through the link connection 15' the opposite tractor tread is disconnected to permit of the vehicle turning in the opposite direction. Motion is imparted to the instrumentalities which will now be described from the countershaft 8 which carries spaced gears 22 with which clutch elements 23 court, said gears 22 transmitting motion on the one nd to the shaft 24; and on the other hand to the wait 25.

Mot-ion to these shafts 24 and 25 may be discontinued by the operation of a throwout lever or rod 26 which actuates through the links 27 the knock-out arm as coacung with corresponding superposed bell crank arms 29,29 connected operativcly with the clutch elements 23 of conventional form, as shown in Figures 1 and 8.

Theshaft 25 is operativcly connected withthe chain 30 which a'ctuates the stalk cutter- 31 of special form comprising a series of arcuateand radially extending knife 'elements arranged at a point substantially adjacent to the apex of the throat of the gathcring boards or guide boards 32 of conventional type. This shaft also actuates the gathering chains 33 at one side, said chains being provided with the customary form of? spaced lugs34.

"that the chain 41 drives one of the pressing rollers 12 only, while the others are driven by the chain 43 which is also the actuating means for the conveyor 44 as stated.

At this point it is desirable to explain "the cycle of: operation of the apparatus. As the "machine is advanced over the field in a proper manner to allow the stalks of cane in a single row to come between the gathering boards, those stalks which are down or bent out of alinement, are picked up into upright position and carried .in such position rearwardly, relatively speaking, to the ro-' tary cutter at the apex of the throat, where the stalks are severed. Thes'talks from this point are conveyed laterally and discharged, as hereinbefore indicated, upon the elevating apron 37 which carries the stalks in horizontal position upwardly to the feeding conveyor 4:4. The stalks are now Shifted in a longitudinal direction toward the pressing rollers 42 and guided between said rollers by the shielded The juice, under the proper tension of the rollers, is pressed from the stalks and fallsinto the open, shallow pan 46 directly beneath said rollers, this pan preferably having a suitable-screen so as to separate foreign matter which accidentally drops into the receptacle from the extracted juices. The juice then passes into a reservoir arranged at a lower elevation and capable of holding asuitable quantity by virtue of its size. Where the amount of extracted juices The apron 37 is driven irom the shaft 24; by the chains 38, 39 and the shaft 40. The

is likely to exceed the capacity of the resern ir. in the particular operation, I contemplate that a suitable vehicle (not shown) may be driven along beside the harvesting apparatus or such vehicle may be drawn by the harvesting apparatus itself and the vehicle will embody a tank to receive the juices from the reservoir =16 through the flexible conduit 47, being pumped from the said res; ervoir by a proper pumpdevicearranged at one end as indicated at 48.

The auxiliary vehicle referred to will then take the juices to the place for disposition in the evaporating pans for completion of the operation of extracting the sugarcontent. As the bagasse. passes from the pressing rollers 42 it is directed by means of the deflector 42 downwardly upon the ground.

One of the advantageous features of this apparatus lies in the fact that I contemplate the mounting of the special mechanisms for gathering, cutting, conveying and pressing the cane upon a platform 49 which is supported upon the cross frame pieces 50 so that these mechanisms may be bodily removed from the frame to permit the tractor vehicle to be utilized for other purposes than the special harvesting operation hereinbefore set forth.

I am aware that certain of the operations which have been described with reference to the harvesting of the cane have heretofore been carried out by machinery for this purpose but I believe that I am the first to devise, an apparatus of the class which is capable of performing the complete operation to the extraction of thejuices from the cane stalks and accordinglyfl believe further that I am entitled to the protection of the broad scope which covers this-idea.

lVhat is claimed is;

1. In an apparatus for extracting juicesfrom the cane, the combination of a support adapted to be advanced over the field, cane cutting mechanism mounted thereupon, and

means mounted upon the support and adjacent. thereto for pressing and thereby extracting the juices from the cane subsequent to the cutting operation.

In an agricultural apparatus of the class described, the combination of a stalk cutter. gathering mechanism for moving the stalks to the cutter, and means arranged in position to 1:C6l\'e and press to thereby express the juices from the stalks subsequent to the cutting operation.

3. In an agricultural implement of the class described, "the combination of a support adapted to be advanced over the field, a cutter for severing the stalks adjacent the ground, means for pressing the stalks and thereby extracting the juices therefrom, and means intermediate the pressing means and the cutter for conveying the stalks to the former.

4. In a unitary agricultural implement of the class described, the combination of a tractor support adapted to be; advanced over the field, a cutter for severing the stalks adjacent to the ground, mechanism for gathering the stalks and moving the same in upright position to the cutter, said means directing the stalks laterally therefrom, elerating means, and pressing mechanism to which the elevating means direct the stalks.

5. In a unitary harvesting machine of the class described, the combination of a support adaptedto be advanced over the field,

a cutter for severing the stalks adjacent to the ground,fm,hchanisn1 for gathering the stalks and mov ngtthe same in upright position to the cutter, elevating'means, feeding mechanism adapted to receive the stalks from the elevating means, and pressing mechanism to which said feeding means directs the stalks for extraction of their juices.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination of gathering chains engageable with the cane stalks, a cutter device adapted to sever the cane adjacent to the ground, an 9 l elevating conveyor arranged'at one side of the said chains, pressing rolls disposed to receive the cane from the elevating conveyor, and means for directing the cane when cut laterally .of the gathering chains todrop 9 the same uponthe conveyor aforesaid.

7. In an agricultural implement of the class described'adapted for extracting juices from cane or the like, the combination of a tractor support adapted to be advanced over the field, cane cutting mechanism mounted thereupon, means adjacent thereto for pressing the: cane and thereby extracting the juices from the cane subsequent to the cutting operation, and a. container mounted upon the support to receive said juices.

8. In an agricultural implement of the class described adapted for extracting juices from cane or the like, the combination of a tractor support adapted to be advanced over the field, cane harvesting mechanism mounted thereupon, means adjacent thereto for pressing the cane and thereby extracting the juices from the cane subsequent to the harvesting operation, a container mounted on the support'to receive said juices, and a reservoir on said support into which the'juices' are directed from the container aforesaid.

9. In an agricultural implement of the class described adapted for extracting juices from caneor the like, the combination of a tractor support adapted to be advanced over the field, cane harvesting mechanism mounted thereupon, means adjacent thereto for pressing and thereby extracting the juices 126 frbm the cane subsequent to the harvesting operation, a container on the support to receive said juices, and means operable to transfer the juices from the container.

10. In an agricultural implement of the 130 10 erally class described, the combination with a tractor frame having endless tread elements and 1 ,ees ,e'ye

feeding conveyor arranged atthe end of the elevating conveyor for, directingthe cane longituolinally of the frame, pressing rolls for extracting the juices fromthe' cane,

means for guiding the cane into said pressing rolls, a reservoir on the support to re-' ceive the expressed juices, and a pump device for transferring the said ]l11C8S.fIOm said reservoir at will.

In testimony whereof I affix my eigmztum.

CLAUDE C. HOBSONQ 

